Slip-lasted conductive shoe and method of making it



Aug. 10, 1965 J. MELTZER 3,200,292

SLIP-LASTED CONDUGTIVE SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Filed April 10, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JACK Mar-2e? Aug. 0, 1965 J. MELTZER 3,200,292

SLIP-LASTED CONDUOTIVE SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Filed April 10, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'Zb 27 25 H *7/ //4 I 1 (23 INVENTOR:

- & BY JACK NELrZE/Q United States Patent 3,200,292 SLIP-LASTED CONDUCTIVE SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Jack Meltzer, 544 N. Laurel Ave., Hollywood 48, Calif. Filed Apr. 10, 1962, Ser. No. 186,426

9 Claims. (Cl. 317-2) This invention relates generally to footwear, and has of such shoes, and embodying, also, the advantageous characteristics of slip-lasted shoes. These include, for example, structuralsimplicity, lightness of weight, comfort, and low cost.

Among the features of the invention is the fact that the process lends itself well to mass production of conductive shoes in a wide variety of styles. The manufacturing proceedure involves relatively few steps that can be readily modified in various Ways and can be carried out without requiring unusual skills. The shoes produced have the appearance of shoes made by more conventional and usually more costly shoe making processes, and they are, in addition, unusually comfortable and attractive. Coupled with these advantages is the fact that they embody in an effective inconspicious manner the conductive capabilities for which they are primarily intended.

Several ways of achieving these objects and advantages, and such other benefits as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, are shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded View of some of the parts that are initially provided and assembled in making the shoe of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a similar view of the further stage of the manufacturing process;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 Showing a further stage of manufacture;

. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along the lines '7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view along the line 88 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are modifications;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along the line 12-42 of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a view similar to ther modification.

All views are exaggerated with respect to the thicknesses of the elements involved, and their relationships to one another, for the sake of simplicity and clarity of illustration.

The type of shoe depicted in FIG. 1 is merely an example of a large selection of styles that can be produced by this invention. In the shoe chosen for illustration the upper 20 includes quarters 21 of the blucher type and a moccasin-style forepart. Below the upper is a perspective views illustrating FIG. 12 showing a fur- Wrapped midsole unit 22 and a conductive outer sole 23 having a separate heel 24.

In making this shoe, the upper 20 is first separately assembled (FIG. 2), and a full-length socklining 25 is provided, having an appropriate corresponding contour. The socklining may be of any desired suitable material, such as fabric or leather, and in known fashion it is relatively thin and flexible.

Before the socklining is assembled with the upper it is associated with a conductive strip 26. This strip may be composed of any known flexible fiat material having the desired conductive property. Fabric impregnated with carbonaceous or other conductive substance is an example.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 8, the socklining 25 is provided with a medial transverse slit 27, and the strip 26 is of substantially uniform width throughout its length. The strip is threaded through the slit 27 as shown in FIG. 2. The upper part is directed forwardly toward the front end of the socklining 25 and may, if desired, be adhesively secured to, or stitched to, the top face of the socklining, but this is not essential.

Also separately and preliminarily provided are a midsole 28 (FIG. 3) and a wrapper strip 29. The midsole is thicker than the socklining and may be composed of any desired soft, comfortable, fibrous or composition material of the type usually employed for this purpose. In the present case it is provided with a transverse medial slit 3d, preferably located in the region corresponding to that of slit 27, so that the slits 27 and 30 will come into alignment in the finished shoe (see FIG. 8). The wrapper 29 is also composed in known fashion of flexible fabric or other material of whatever syle, color or character may be desired.

The upper 20, the socklining 25, and the wrapper 29 are united by stitching, as indicated at 31 in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. The wrapper is stitched to the outside, and the socklining is stitched to the inside, of the lower edge of the upper 29. This may be achieved in two separate steps, if desired, by stitching first the socklining (or the wrapper) to the upper, then stitching the other; or a single stitching operation may be carried out to secure all three elements together at one time. During this procedure, the upper free end of the conductive strip 26 maybe engaged by the stitches 31 as shown in FIG. 5.

The free lower end of the strip 26 is then threaded through the slit 30 of the midsole 28, and the latter is adhesively applied to the underside of the socklining 25. This and subsequent procedures are carried out on a last. In known fashion, the wrapper 29 is brought around the edge of the midsole to enclose its edges and to come into embracing relation thereto, as shown in FIG. 7, the wrapper being adhesively retained in position.

It is at this stage that the free exposed lower part of the conductive strip 26 is laid and secured fiatwise against the lower surface of the midsole 28, preferably with the aid of adhesive. The strip may extend either rearwardly or forwardly.

Finally the outer sole 23 is adhesively secured to the assembly, along with the heel 24. The outer sole is of course of conductive material such as conductive rubber or its equivalent. In applying the sole, care must be taken to establish a clean contact between the strip 26 and the sole 23, and to prevent any non-conductive adhesive from becoming interposed.

The finished shoe is neat and attractive in appearance, and comfortable to wear, and it does not necessarily reveal the fact that it is of the conductive variety. It looks like any conventional shoe and may embody any desired contour, style, color, or material. The conductive strip 26 can be concealed from casual View, or if rearwardly to underlie the heel of the wearers foot. such a case, two alternatives may be employed. The end 36 may be stitched into engagement with the assembly desired that part of the strip which lies above the socklining can be deliberately exposed and specially contoured or colored for ornamental or trademarking or other purposes. In either case it provides a reliable and effective conductive path between the foot-contacting top face of the socklining and the conductive outer sole.

A modification of the conductive strip is shown in FIG. 9, in which the strip 32 is longitudinally split into branches in the region beneath the midsole, to provide parts 33, 34 that can be laid out in divergent direction, e.g., both forwardly and rearwardly, along the underface of the midsole. The socklining 25 and the midsole 28 are represented in dot-and-dash lines, it being understood that the procedure is in other respects the same as that hereinbefore described.

Obviously, if desired, the splitting or forking of the conductive strip 32 may be achieved by sewing or otherwise securing two or more separate sections of conductive material together, not necessarily by forming all parts 4 32, 33 and 34, of a single element.

In FIG. 10 a modified conductive strip 35 is shown, in which one end 36 is enlarged in width. This strip might be employed, as in FIGS. 1-8, with the enlarged end overlying the forward region of the socklining, and being marginally engaged by the stitches 31. Or, as indicated in FIG. 10, the enlarged end 36 may be directed In by stitches 31, as hereinbefore described, or it may be left unattached so as to define a heelseat cover that can eithe forwardly or rearwardly, or in both directions, to V the under surface of the midsole.

In FIGS. 11 and 12 a conductive strip 37 is shown,

having an enlarged forward part 38. The socklining 39 is in this case provided in the medial part (underlying the ball of the wearers foot) with a sizable window opening 40, and the strip part 38 is secured as a patch (as by stitching 41) to the margin of this opening, thus closing the opening. This exposes the conductive area 38 in the upwardly facing foot-engaging surface of the socklining. The rear or lower part of the strip 37 may be relatively narrow and is passed downwardly through the slit in the midsole (not shown in FIGS. 11-12), and laid flat against the underside of the latter, as previously described.

A further development of this idea is indicated in FIG. 13. The enlarged forward part of the conductive element is in this case composed of two superposed layers or sections l3, 44, with a soft padding or cushioning element 45 in the pockets between them. At least the uppermost layer 43 is of conductive material, and the padded 'unit is secured by stitches 46 or the like to the marginal part of the window opening 47 in the sock- .lining 42. The rear or tail part 48 of the conductive element (shown in FIG. 13 as an integral part of the upper layer 43) is treated as hereinbefore described, to lie ultimately between the midsole and the conductive outer sole in direct contact with the latter.

In the devices shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, the opening in the socklining may be shaped in various ways to create ornamental. or trade-marking effects, if desired. This serves in a further manner to conceal the circumstance ,that the shoe is of the conductive type.

It will be understood that procedural and structural details herein described may be modified in numerous 4 respects without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: V

1. A conductive shoe of the slip-lasted'type comprising an upper having a lower edge, a socklining having a medial slit and stitched marginally to said lower edge, a midsole having a medial slit, a midsole wrapper stitched to said lower edge of the upper and embracing the edges of the midsole, a conductive strip threaded through said slits and having an upper part lying fiat against the sock-.

lining and a lower part lying flat against the midsole, and a conductive outer sole underlying and in direct contact with said lower part of the conductive strip.

2. A conductive shoe as defined in claim 1, said upper part of the conductive strip extending to an edge of the socklining and being engaged by the stitches securing the socklining to the upper.

3. A conductive shoe as defined in claim 1, saidslits in the socklining and in the midsole being aligned.

4. A conductive shoe as defined in claim 1, said lower part of the conductive strip being branched and the branches lying in divergent directions along the underface of the midsole.

5. A conductive shoe of the slip-lasted type comprising an upper, a socklining, a midosle, a midsole wrapper, and a conductive outer sole, the socklining and the wrapper being stitched to the lower edge of the upper and the wrapper embracing the edges of said midsole, the socklining having a sizable medial window opening, a patch extending across said opening and secured to the margin thereof, said patch being composed of conductive material and being formed with a strip extending from it on the underside of the socklining, said midsole being provided with a medial slit and said strip extending through said slit and lying flat between the midsole and the outer sole and in direct conductive contact with the latter.

6. A conductive shoe as defined in claim 5, said patch consisting of superposed layers defining a pocket be tween them, and a cushion in said pocket.

7. Aslip-lasted conductive shoe comprising an upper having a lower edge, a socklining stitched marginally to said lower edge, a midsole having a medial slit, a midsole wrapper stitched to said lower edge of the upper and embracing the edges of the midsole, a conductive outer sole underlying the midsole, a conductive strip extending through said slit and having an upper part and a lower part, the lower part lying between the midsole and the outer sole and in direct contact with the latter, and an opening in said socklining for exposing the upper part of said strip on the upper face of the stocklining.

, 8. A slip-lasted conductive shoe as defined in claim 7, said means comprising an opening in the socklining of appreciable size, said upper part of the conductive strip being of comparable area and spanning said opening, and means forsecuring said area to the margin of said openmg.

9. A conductive shoe asdefined in claim 1, in which the upper part of the conductive strip is enlarged in width and is directed rearwardly from said slit, said enlarged part being adhesively secured in position so that it may be so secured as a final step in the manufacturing process.

References Cited by the Examiner .UNITEDVSTATES PATENTS 2,279,094 4/42 Siers 317-2 2,857,556 10/58 Price 317-2 2,879,452 3/59 Page 317-2 3,079,550 2/63 MacQuaid et al. 317 2 SAMUEL BERNSTEIN, Primary Examiner.

LLOYD MCCOLLUM, Examiner. 

7. A SLIP-LASTED CONDUCTIVE SHOE COMPRISING AN UPPER HAVING A LOWER EDGE, A SOCKLINING STITCHED MARGINALLY TO SAID LOWER EDGE, A MIDSOLE HAVING A MEDIAL SLIT, A MIDSOLE WRAPPER STITCHED TO SAID LOWER EDGE OF THE UPPER AND EMBRACING THE EDGES OF THE MIDSOLE, A CONDUCTIVE OUTER SOLE UNDERLYING THE MIDSOLE, A CONDUCTIVE STRIP EXTENDING THROUGH SAID SLIT AND HAVING AN UPPER PART AND A LOWER PART, THE LOWER PART LYING BETWEEN THE MIDSOLE AND THE OUTER SOLE AND IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE LATER, AND AN OPENING IN SAID SOCKLINING FOR EXPOSING THE UPPER PART OF SAID STRIP ON THE UPPER FACE OF THE STOCKLINING. 